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dc.contributor.authorBelmaker, Amos
dc.contributor.authorHallinger, Kelly K.
dc.contributor.authorGlynn, Rebbeca A.
dc.contributor.authorWinkler, David W.
dc.contributor.authorHaussmann, Mark F.
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-01T23:08:54Z
dc.date.available2019-08-01T23:08:54Z
dc.date.issued2019-07-04
dc.identifier.citationBelmaker, A., Hallinger, K. K., Glynn, R. A., Winkler, D. W., & Haussmann, M. F. (2019). The environmental and genetic determinants of chick telomere length in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Ecology and Evolution.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2045-7758
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/ece3.5386
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/633632
dc.description.abstractConditions during early life can have dramatic effects on adult characteristics and fitness. However, we still know little about the mechanisms that mediate these relationships. Telomere shortening is one possibility. Telomeres are long sequences of DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes. They shorten naturally throughout an individual's life, and individuals with short telomeres tend to have poorer health and reduced survival. Given this connection between telomere length (TL) and fitness, natural selection should favor individuals that are able to retain longer telomeres for a greater portion of their lives. However, the ability of natural selection to act on TL depends on the extent to which genetic and environmental factors influence TL. In this study, we experimentally enlarged broods of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to test the effects of demanding early-life conditions on TL, while simultaneously cross-fostering chicks to estimate heritable genetic influences on TL. In addition, we estimated the effects of parental age and chick sex on chick TL. We found that TL is highly heritable in Tree Swallow chicks, and that the maternal genetic basis for TL is stronger than is the paternal genetic basis. In contrast, the experimental manipulation of brood size had only a weak effect on chick TL, suggesting that the role of environmental factors in influencing TL early in life is limited. There was no effect of chick sex or parental age on chick TL. While these results are consistent with those reported in some studies, they are in conflict with others. These disparate conclusions might be attributable to the inherent complexity of telomere dynamics playing out differently in different populations or to study-specific variation in the age at which subjects were measured.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipJohn Weber endowment; Athena fund at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Andrew W. Mellon Student research Grants at Cornell University; Sigma Xi; Society for Integrative and comparative Biology; American Ornithologists' Union; NSF LTREB grants [DEB-0717021, DEB-1242573]en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherWILEYen_US
dc.rights© 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectbrood enlargementen_US
dc.subjectheritabilityen_US
dc.subjectstressen_US
dc.subjectTachycineta bicoloren_US
dc.subjecttelomere lengthen_US
dc.subjectTree Swallowen_US
dc.titleThe environmental and genetic determinants of chick telomere length in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.contributor.departmentUniv Arizona, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biolen_US
dc.identifier.journalECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONen_US
dc.description.noteOpen access journalen_US
dc.description.collectioninformationThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.en_US
dc.eprint.versionFinal published versionen_US
refterms.dateFOA2019-08-01T23:08:54Z


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© 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.